Ahmedabad: Just days after nearly 3,000 kilo heroin originating from Afghanistan was seized at the Mundra Port, port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) has announced that its terminals will no longer handle export and import cargoes from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
“With effect from November 15, 2021, APSEZ will not handle EXIM (export and import) containerised cargo originating from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan,” APSEZ said in a statement.
The statement said the decision would apply to all terminals operated by APSEZ and third party terminals at any APSEZ port until further notice.
The country’s largest port operator did not say anything about the reason behind the move to ban containerised cargo, but the massive 2,988 kilo heroin haul, valued at Rs. 21,000 crore in the international market, by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from Mundra Port, is widely believed to be the reason. Adani Group had drawn a lot of flak following the drug haul, forcing the company to clarify that it is only the port operator and is not empowered to examine a container.
The heroin, originating from Afghanistan, was shipped from Iran to the Mundra Port last month. The heroin was concealed in a consignment marked as semi-processed talc stones. The National Investigation Agency has taken over the case.